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horse engine (also called a horse power or horse-power) is a (now largely obsolete) machine for using to power other machinery. It is a type of animal engine that was very common before internal combustion engines and electrification. Mills driven by horse powers were called . Horse engines were often portable so that they could be attached to whichever implement they were needed for at the time. Others were built into gin gang.
A common design for the horse engine was a large treadwheel on which one or more horses walked. The surface of the treadmill was made of wooden slats linked like a chain. Rotary motion from the treadmill was first passed to a planetary gear system, and then to a shaft or pulley that could be coupled to another machine. Such powers were called tread powers, railway powers, or endless-chain powers. Another common design was the horse wheel or sweep power, in which one or several horses walked in a circle, turning a shaft at the center.
Examples of farm machinery powered with a horse engine include (see horse mill), threshing machines, , feed cutters, silo blowers, grain grinders, pumps, and saws such as and sawmill saws. They could also be used interchangeably with other forms of power, such as a hand crank, stationary engine, portable engine, or the flat belt pulley or power take-off shaft of a tractor, which eventually replaced them on most American and European .
Today there are still a few modern versions used by Amish people that assist in farm chores and that power via .
In the 19th century, even boats were powered by horse engines. were popular for ferry.
Circa 1828, the Westminster Cracker Factory's machinery was powered by horse engine; steam power followed, and by 1922, the bakery was electrified.
Wendel (2004) provides contemporary drawings from advertisements.
Power output was limited by the size of the team. Horse powers were often run with a single horse or a two-horse team, which means that, judged by today's standards, not much power output was available and the feed mill or pump being driven was a rather small one. Regarding choice of type, at various times and places there were accepted notions of conventional wisdom, such as that more usable power per horse came from a tread power than from a sweep power (in other words, that a sweep power was less efficient of the horse's effort) or that a tread power would wear down a horse prematurely (a notion roundly refuted by others).
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